The present invention relates to an energy absorption and barrier device for automotive vehicles, and particularly to an intrusion barrier for the doors of such vehicles.
Current side door intrusion devices are either stamped sheet or roll-formed high-strength tubular beams that are attached by hardware to the door's vertical edges. These devices are designed to absorb specified amounts of energy at a plurality of predetermined spaced deflection distances upon receipt of impact according to specifications of the United States Government and various automotive manufacturers. The tubular beam intrusion devices weigh less and are most costly to manufacture than the stamped-style beams.
A multi-layer energy absorption device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,665, Ikawa. This device is comprised of first and second elongated thin steel sheets 11 and 12 in generally spaced relationship and a third or corrugated or wavy thin steel sheet 13 interposed therebetween (col. 1, lines 32-35). Alternating ridges 13a of thin sheet 13 are preferably spot-welded as at 16 to the inner surfaces of sheets 11 and 12 (col. 1, lines 46-48). Sheets 11 and 12 are provided with rows of serially arranged slots 15 (col. 1, lines 48-50). Upon impact, fracture or shearing of sheet 12 readily occurs along the rows of slots 15 and subsequently locally deforms and crushes the corrugated sheet 13 (col. 1, lines 55-59). It is to be noted that the sheets in this device do not successively deflect to greater distances from a plane and then fracture so as to sequentially absorb greater amounts of energy upon impact. The reference states, however, that this device may be used on the inner wall of the door panels (col. 2, lines 6-13) and can be provided on the impact receiving surface with a resilient padding 20 such as foam rubber (col. 2, lines 13-16). An energy-absorbing bumper of progressively deformable structure in the form of transversely extending pipe-like members is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,806,180, Patterson. A vehicle door intrusion device comprised of a band of continuous glass fibers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,235, Jahnle, et al. A plurality of elongated soft metal pipes of varying diameters are positioned one within another in such manner as to permit progressive deformation of the same transversely of the principal axis of each (col. 2, lines 29-33). The tubes are not arranged in concentric fashion but rather are held in mutual contact along one line of each by a clip 41 which may be substituted by spot welding (col. 2, lines 44-47). Similarly, a vehicle end structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,138,118, Dean, which will crush initially when subjected to impact and thereafter give progressively increasing resistance with relatively great energy absorption over a considerable displacement distance (col. 1, lines 29-34). Also, incremental energy absorption systems are known for use on ships, e.g. aircraft carriers. U.S. Pat. No. 2,192,813, Crede, shows corrugated reinforcing sheet 37 having corrugations 36 of a somewhat differant contour than the corrugations 38 in the end wall plate 39 (col., lines 27-31) of a rail car as shown in FIG. 7, thereof. Other energy absorption devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,937,407, Matsuo, and 4,264,094, White, et al.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide a multi-layer energy absorption and barrier device for automotive vehicles which will be lighter and less expensive to manufacture than those currently used.